


The Trigger

by creative_frequency



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: And she has a dog, Awkward reader, Destiny 2, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader is a huntress, Robot/Human Relationships, Romance, Set at the Farm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 11:42:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16831936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/creative_frequency/pseuds/creative_frequency
Summary: The Cabal invasion made you wave goodbyes to the solitary life outside the City walls. Along with the refugees pouring to the Farm, arrived one loud and obnoxious Exo Hunter. And he loved to tag along wherever you went – much to your dismay.





	1. The Permanent Scowl

**Author's Note:**

> Find all my writings at [creative-frequency.tumblr.com](http://creative-frequency.tumblr.com)
> 
>   
> 

The refugees, people who had lost their homes, and Guardians, who had lost their Light, had been arriving for weeks. Weeks of tending the wounded, burying the dead, sharing the supplies and scraping by with whatever you could find. Who knew how many more such weeks there was to come?

There had been hard times, it was easy enough to admit, but this was different. They were already calling it “The Red War”. It was a difficult concept to grasp for someone like you. So far, your life had been a rather solitary one, only banding together for convenience or the occasional need to talk to another human being. It was a good, simple way of living.

Life in The Last City had never been for you. You weren’t a Guardian, but the burn of the wanderlust was too tempting, its flame too bright to resist. There were others like you and a handful of them you were proud to call your friends.

Just like you, Suraya Hawthorne had lived half of her life outside the City walls. To neither of you there was no other way of life. The untamed, Fallen-filled wilds of the European Dead Zone were your home and the life of a wanderer was yours.

So, when Suraya came up with the grand idea of transforming your beloved Farm into the cradle of civilization, you couldn’t find the excuse to refuse her your help. Since then she had taken charge of the camp, much to your relief, and handled the daily tasks of running the safe haven.

Your job was much easier. _Aim. Shoot. Kill. Provide._ Repeat as needed.

The only problem was that the need was getting way too high to handle. The flood of people had peaked already, but there were still more arriving each day, and everyone needed to eat. For someone from the City, the lands of the EDZ were unfamiliar and unquestionably dangerous. To you the terrain was familiar, and most importantly, you knew where to go when one wanted to find something to fill their belly with.

After a particularly rushed, but lucky hunting trip, you were back at the Farm, resting your mind and body by enjoying the warm, sunny day sitting on the grass. Things had started to gradually calm down since the attack on the City as everyone found their daily tasks and the rhythm of the life at the Farm.

People kept coming and going around you, most of them ignoring you, until a pair of boots appeared to your field of vision.

“Oh, hey, they told me to find you.”

“Who’s asking?” You looked up from your rucksack. An Exo. That explained the metallic voice. “And who’s ‘they’?”

“Some guy at the landing. ‘Find the woman with a rifle and a permanent scowl’, so here I am,” he said sounding suspiciously excited. His blue eyes were bright and aimed at you like a pair of flashlights. A light glowed in the back of his throat as he spoke, altering between cold yellow and warm orange shades.

As it happened, you had been cleaning your sniper rifle and the parts were scattered on the grass around you. Half of the Exo’s description certainly fit but taking care of new refugees had never been your job.

“Well, sorry but that’s not me. You’re looking for Suraya Hawthorne – she’s up there,” you said, already focused back on the weapon and nodded to the general direction of the large garage building.

The Exo hummed in thought, nodded and planted his hands on his hips, waiting.

“Did you need something else?” There was a scowl on your face you could swear wasn’t there before his arrival. If someone had asked you to describe Suraya, you would have told them to look for a woman in a poncho with a falcon. Half of the people at the Farm were carrying a rifle and there wasn’t much to smile about these days.

The Exo tilted his head, a somewhat apologetic look on his face. “Could you show me the way? I’m not sure I can find her on my own.”

You looked up to stare at him, trying to figure out was he serious. The pair of blue lights blinked innocently.

“It’s that building over there. She’s probably on the second floor, straight ahead from the stairs at the left,” you explained patiently, now more carefully pointing at the right direction. Even from that distance you could distinguish the woman in a blue poncho, hunched over a table you knew was filled with maps and plans.

“Yeah, okay,” the Exo agreed, but made no motion to any direction.

You waited a few seconds, hoping he would get the hint.

“Fine,” you groaned and placed the barrel you had been cleaning to the ground. No one would dare to touch your stuff anyways, or you would see to that they would never touch anything that belonged to you again.

You ignored the hand reached out in aid, got up and started walking at a brisk pace, silently irritated at being pulled away from your solitude.

“I’m Cayde-6, by the way,” the Exo said and hurried after you.

Out of the shreds of courtesy you managed to dig from inside you, you turned to nod to him over your shoulder.

“Pleasure,” you said curtly but didn’t bother introducing yourself. You wouldn’t have to stand his company ever again anyway.

“So, you live around here?” Cayde questioned to make small talk.

“I do.”

“Uh-huh.”

There was a beat of silence, but he didn’t let it last for long.

“And what do you do?” he asked.

“I’m a hunter.”

Cayde let out a delighted noise. “Oh, what a coincidence! I’m a Hunter too.” He sounded way too excited about the revelation.

“Great,” you muttered and continued stomping up the stairs, not listening to what the Exo was gushing about behind you.

Being a hunter like you, and being a Hunter like him were worlds apart. With each step you were gladder you would get rid of him soon.

“Hawthorne, there’s someone looking for you,” you announced as soon as you stepped onto the second-floor platform.

Suraya was leaning heavily over the map that had been spread on the table. She looked up and her brows raised. “What is it?”

You simply pointed a thumb over your shoulder towards the Exo sauntering after you. You imagined he was throwing finger guns at everyone and everything along with the greetings that kept spilling out of his mouth. Seemed like you had found the noisiest person on the planet.

“Heyy, you must be Hawthorne.”

“And you must be Cayde-6. Welcome to the European Dead Zone.” Suraya straightened up and folded her arms on her chest. Her judgmental gaze scanned over the newcomer.

“Oh. Thanks.” Cayde glanced at you, eyes bright with clear as day mischief. “…For the _warm_ welcome.”

Suraya laughed. “Don’t mind her. She’s our best tracker and that compensates to her people skills.”

You rolled your eyes to the heights, still not feeling like warming up to Cayde the Hunter. You had seen enough Guardians for one life time and had a long time ago deemed it best to avoid them.

“Oh, so _that’s_ what you meant when you said you were a hunter. That’s amazing, though! I let my Ghost handle the tracking stuff.” Cayde was looking at you with completely new interest and it made your insides tingle nervously.

The small, red device appeared in the air as if on cue: “Nice to meet you. My name is Sundance.”

The Ghost made a circle around Cayde’s head before settling to hover above his left shoulder.

“You came from Nessus, didn’t you?” Suraya asked, her brows creasing in thought.

“Yeah. Had a little stuck-in-endless-portal-loop-scenario. The Guardian helped me out,” Cayde explained and chuckled.

Everyone knew which Guardian he was talking about: The only one who had gotten their Light back. News of her heroics around the system had spread like a wildfire.

“You know where she is now?” Suraya continued.

“We left Nessus at the same time. I sent her to Io, she was looking for Ikora, our Warlock vanguard.”

“Ah.”

When the conversation deceased, you started slowly retreating towards the exit, hoping Suraya would handle Cayde and you could go back to being left alone.

“Are you busy now?” she asked sharply, stopping you on your tracks.

“Always,” you turned to say with a blank face.

Suraya looked back to Cayde and her posture relaxed. “You should get some rest before you guys start planning on how to save the world again.” A hint of a smile tugged at her lips. For every Guardian who arrived at the Farm, she seemed happier. The Farm needed people who knew which end of the gun went where. Though you weren’t sure did the Hunter deserve so much credit.

Cayde swatted the air as if saving the world was nothing. “It’s just another Tuesday.”

“Hmh. Have you had time to explore the place?” Suraya’s tone was pondering and the feeling that you were not going to get back to being left alone grew tenfold.

“Nah, just got here,” Cayde said.

“Why don’t you show him around?” Suraya asked you in a tone that didn’t leave any room for argument.

You threw a murderous look at her, but after so many years of friendship, she was immune by now. Cayde, on the other hand, was not so immune to the power of your scornful glare.

“Y’know what? I’m good, really, there’s no–”

“Cayde? Are you there?” a booming shout carried from nearby.

The voice belonged to the Titan Vanguard Commander. You had seen him from afar, never made any contact with and didn’t even want to. He was an Awoken, always armored from neck to toe and seemed to have a stick up his ass but that was probably caused by the recent events. Losing the City you’re supposed to protect will do that.

“On second thought, I could really use a tour.” Cayde grabbed your shoulders and before you could utter a word of protest, he turned you towards the stairs and walked you down.

Suraya just chuckled and went back to her maps.

It was an easy way out of the situation, but as soon as you were down on the ground level, you shook the Exo off your back.

“Hey, I didn’t catch your name back there,” he said.

“That’s cause I didn’t say it,” you muttered loud enough to be heard.

“Yeah, I noticed. Just didn’t want to be _rude_.”

“You can call me whatever you like. I don’t care.”

_“Uuh_ , I like that…”Cayde rubbed his hands together eagerly. “So, how about–”

You stopped abruptly, interrupting him by almost causing him to bump into you. You didn’t budge when you turned, and instead fixated the scariest, most serious look you could form straight into his bright blue eyes.

Cayde blinked, obviously surprised.

“I have no interest in being your friend, so there’s really no need to try so hard,” you said as you eyed him up and down, for the first time _actually_ looking at him, “…Guardian.”

“Ah, the cold shoulder again!” Cayde waved one finger in the air, as if saying that he knew the answer to this one. “Sorry, I wasn’t supposed to say that out loud, was I? I’m not so good at this whole ‘making friends’ thing–”

A frustrated groan rumbled from your throat as you spun on your heels and continued to try and go on about your business. The rifle needed cleaning, the bow string needed to be changed, there was tons to pack before heading out and your dog was god knows where, so you’d have find him…

But Cayde skittered after you like a puppy wanting to play.

“Don’t you have something to do, Guardian?” you asked angrily, not sparing a look at him. You headed towards the spot where you had left most of your stuff behind the survey unit house.

“First of all, it’s _Cayde_ , C-A-Y-D-E. But I forgive you since we only just became friends.”

Okay _now_ you were sure he was trying to get on your nerves on purpose. You took a sharp inhale before opening your mouth:

“Why don’t you run along–”

The delighted gasp that left Cayde and the reason for it silenced you mid-sentence.

“What is _that_?” Cayde asked, skittering forward in tiny, dancing steps.

You patted your thigh and made a short whistle.

“A dog?” you said.

“Duh. I know it’s a dog. Of course, it’s a dog. What I mean is what is that doing _here_?” The pitch of Cayde’s voice heightened as he crouched with open arms, ready to try and hug the animal.

One of your concerns had solved itself as your occasional hunting companion sat on the grass, tail wagging and dark golden eyes peeled at you. You felt a weird sense of satisfaction as he ignored the Exo trying to call out to him.

“Good boy,” you murmured and invited the dog closer for a scratching behind the ear.

Cayde let out a dismayed huff and crossed his arms on his chest. “Now I know what it means that pets and their owners are alike...”

You hummed, decided to overlook the stupid comment and patted the dog’s head. He had noticed you were planning to leave and had come to check could he go with you. The short, orange-brown fur was clean and flowy, a telltale signal of love, care and a bath. Mark and the kids had probably looked after him again. You would have to go thank them before heading out. The thought brought an almost imperceptible smile to your lips.

“What’s his name?” Cayde asked after a few seconds of looking at you and the dog.

You hesitated. “Uh, he doesn’t have one…” At least to your knowledge. It was highly probable that the kids had given him a name. You just called him “the dog”.

You peeked at the horrification on the Exo’s face from under your brows.

“…What?” you asked.

“He doesn’t have a name?! How’s that possible?” Cayde all but screamed.

You shrugged, uncomfortable about the amount of emotion he put into his words.

“Well, he might have one. _I_ just don’t have one for him.” You didn’t want to start explaining how he had been a stray in the wildlands and just tagged along when you had given him some food. Apparently, that had been an unintentional invite to be a part of your pack, but the dog had made himself useful, for sure.

“Then who does?” Cayde questioned with a frown. He was itching to lean down to pet the dog.

“Maybe the kids who live at the camp nearby. I– I don’t know. What does it even matter?” Your gaze shifted from the Exo to the dog. “The tour will have to wait until I get back. Come on, boy.”

As fast as you could, you started throwing the stuff from the ground into the rucksack, all the while trying to act like Cayde’s presence wasn’t bothering you at all.

“You’re ditching me already? I thought we were starting to bond here.” He gestured between himself and you, a mock hurt look on his face.

“I work alone,” you said when you were done and slung the bag over your shoulder. You didn’t mean to look, but Cayde had his hands on his hips again and a stern _pout_ on his face.

“I’m gonna make sure you hold on to that promise, hunter,” he said and a look of dismay passed his features, “Good luck out there.”

A weird sensation fell into the pit of your stomach. You couldn’t snap back at him like you wanted to, nor did you say thanks or even glance at him. The dog waited eagerly by your side, ready to head out into the wilds and the feeling was gradually taking you over too.

“Come back with a story!” Cayde quipped at your retreating back.

As a reaction, only a light huff escaped you. It almost curled the corners of your mouth up.

“Man, I want a pet too,” Cayde said to himself, longingly staring at the dog that was happily trailing after you.


	2. Into the EDZ

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I'm having so much fun with this fic. And we are only getting to the good bits ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> I'd love to hear what you think!

You had compiled a list of Cayde-6’s new hobbies at the Farm:

_Tagging along on hunting trips_  
Being unhelpful  
Throwing stupid comments about everything  
Acting like a nosy buffoon  
Spoiling your dog  
Dramatically lamenting the lack of ramen  
Enraging you to the point where you’re planning his violent murder

And he had stolen (or rather, adopted without a permission) your chicken.

“This is Colonel!” Cayde held the brown chicken high in the air. His voice was lilted with pride.

“…Is that one of my chickens?” you paused to ask. It was time to head out again, so there were a lot of preparations to make. The last two hunting trips hadn’t been as bountiful as you would’ve hoped. Or solitary, thanks to a certain Exo. His presence was distracting, to put it mildly.

“Not anymore. I love her,” Cayde announced, holding the bird tenderly in his arms and stroking its head.

You replied with an angry glare. “You can’t just go and steal animals.”

“Yes, I can.”

“No you can’t.”

“Yes I can.”

“No you– Y’know what? FINE.” You shook your head and started walking. “Do whatever you want. I don’t care.”

Cayde silently labeled the term from adoption to rescue and kissed the chicken’s head.

For the last two trips into the EDZ, you had stayed close to the Farm. There were still deer and hares in the forests, but the more the Cabal surveyed the area, the more scarce the animal population got. You were not a soldier, maybe a scout at best, but you had an inkling feeling that soon you’d have to lay down your bow and resort to stealing instead of providing.

Cayde had of course wanted to follow every Cabal aircraft you had seen fly over. Or infiltrate the dark nooks and caves where the Fallen resided. Neither of the propositions was tempting. Your prey wasn’t the kind that carried weapons.

The Exo was itching to get into action and it was as difficult as it was annoying to watch. He didn’t carry a bow, so he was forbidden from shooting any animals that were meant to become food. He would sometimes play practice without actually firing at cones in trees with his hand cannon. It would’ve been easy to ignore, but he made ridiculous explosion and _pew pew_ sounds.

The tranquil silence and solitude the forests had provided for you before was long gone in Cayde’s company. The guy was able to shut up only when you hissed at him and he saw you taking aim. He didn’t want to tempt you to turn the aim towards him any more than you already wanted to.

So, there were multiple reasons why you were not so eager to wander further from the Farm. It meant sleeping under the starry sky with the noisiest person on the planet. _Stealth_ was a thing in hunting. You had pretty much given up on the hope that Cayde would decide not to come.

You had complained, obviously, but any and all of your protests had fallen to deaf ears. Zavala and Suraya didn’t seem to care. They were too busy coordinating the defense efforts and distributing supplies evenly to the residents of the Farm. In fact, the two seemed satisfied that Cayde had something to keep him busy, and as long as you kept sending food to the table, they saw no problem with him tagging along into the EDZ – no matter how much trouble it meant for you.

Babysitting hadn’t been in your job description before, but neither could you have guessed you’d be hanging out with a Guardian. Or several, in fact, since it had become impossible to completely avoid the surviving ones at the Farm.

The fabled hero of the Light had not yet returned from Io and it was making everyone worried. Your only worry was that you would happen to be at the Farm at the same time. That would be one too many Guardians.

“Got something botherin’ you?”

Cayde waved his hand in front of your face. You were staring at the contents of your rucksack under the pretense of checking everything was packed but didn’t really see anything.

“Stop that,” you snapped and his hand dropped. The dog whined next to you. You didn’t want to take him with you since you didn’t know where exactly you were going. Not that you wanted to take Cayde with you either.

“That’s a yes, no?” Cayde continued.

“It’s nothing. Time to go,” you said, closed the bag and threw it to your back. The dog got onto its feet, puppy eyes looking for yours in an attempt at melting your resolve.

“Okay then, let’s go!” Cayde pumped his fist in the air but stopped abruptly to clear his throat. “Uh, I mean, yeah, I’ll come and make sure the Cabal don’t ambush you while you– you do your… thing. Great. This is great.”

You didn’t even have it in you to argue anymore, instead just shaking your head. The first time that argument had taken over an hour, unnecessarily delaying your departure and had brought no results. Cayde had tagged along anyway. Not to mention the unwanted publicity the volume had brought to you at the Farm.

Hunting was a solitary art form, which you had perfected during the long years outside the City walls. As much as you tried to ignore Cayde while you were in the forest, his presence still bothered you. You had to be continuously aware of his movements and at least pay enough attention to know if he tried to warn you about the Fallen or Cabal.

Cayde’s Ghost appeared in the air when you started walking. It had taken some time for you to get used to its sudden appearances.

“Cayde, remind me again why we–”

The Hunter silenced it with vigorous swatting in the air. “Nope, we already talked about this, Sundance. We’re not doing it again. Not in front of the lady.”

A light huff escaped your lips before you could stop it – a slip that would tell you had been listening. Cayde had taken a peculiar liking to referring to you as a _lady_. Maybe because it was so bizarre to anyone who had actually met you.

Sundance warbled disapprovingly, but let the subject go. Based on what you had seen, the Ghost was eager to go along with the stupid shenanigans Cayde came up with, but they didn’t always see eye to eye. She seemed to think they had better things to do and you were inclined to agree.

The plan was to trek towards the mountains in hopes of finding larger game than brown hares. You had completely given up on laying traps since the Fallen would pick them clean and steal them before you would have the chance to check them. It wasn’t worth the materials or the work.

“Now, I was thinking,” Cayde began and hurried to walk beside you, “We could take a ship, fly there, hunt some deer, transmat it here and fly back. Hm? How does that sound?”

In the direction away from the City, the untamed wilds started literally from the Farm’s backyard. There were several Cabal scouting camps close by, but they were small. A larger base nearby had been under construction for a few days and it made the refugees anxious and worried. Soon you would have to figure out a way to circle around to get deeper into the forests and the mountains.

“Great, but we can’t spare a ship for that right now. And the air traffic is restricted,” you said.

“Aw man, can’t we even get a lift there while cloaked? Save some time? And our legs?” Cayde pointed at his feet as you walked. The undergrowth was engraved with clear paths that were used for patrolling and the terrain would stay rather easy until you’d have to start climbing. If you were going to try and find new hunting areas, you’d much rather get to know the route on foot.

“Does it really save time that someone dumps us into the middle of the forest?” you retorted with slight humor in your tone.

“Is that a rhetorical question? ‘Cause yeah, it does.”

You glanced at Cayde. “And do you know where the deer are?”

“Uhh, well…” He motioned towards the vast forests ahead, “There?”

You turned to quirk an eyebrow at him.

“…Damn it. You do have a point.”

You kept the smug smirk to yourself to not make Cayde think you were enjoying the banter.

“We can hunt while we move and transmat on the way,” you said, “With some luck we won’t have to go far.”

Cayde sighed in defeat. “Okay. Fine. Let’s do that. That’s smart.”

“That’s what I thought,” you mumbled.

Getting back to the Farm for the night was ideal, but not probable. The day was only just beginning but you were already mentally prepared to sleep under a lean-to. A foreign feeling of anxiousness swelled inside you, but you brushed it away.

It took several hours filled mostly with Cayde’s monologue and a couple of hares until you were in an area with even hope for finding larger prey: Promisingly thick undergrowth and no Cabal. The weather was warm but cloudy, so the walk so far had been fast and easy. The mechanical bow was pitched in your hands, an arrow ready to fly at the smallest sign.

Cayde was hanging back while you looked for tracks. He kept talking in half-whisper about his heroics during the Cabal attack, or was it something about the Taken? It was hard to focus on listening to him while watching out for any animals trying to make a run for it.

“—They kept coming at me, but I took out every. Last. One. Burned my fingers on the Golden Gun, too, but it was so worth it–”

Cayde chuckled to himself while you drew in an exasperated breath through the nose.

“Okay, okay, but the best part was when–”

You hissed sharply to silence him and motioned for him to stop moving. There were clear tracks where something larger had laid down underneath a thick spruce, but they were cold. When nothing turned out, Cayde continued his bored humming, about to start blabbing again.

You took another deep breath to force yourself to calm down. He was swaying on his heels, hands planted on his hips and looking around for something interesting.

“You’re bored, I get it. But you need to–”

Just then you caught a flicker of motion between the shadows, four legs that were ready to gallop to safety. The first deer on your path and the reason to go back to the Farm was right–

“Hey, did I ever tell you how I became the Vanguard?”

The arrow landed on a tree. In a flash of a white, fluffy tail, the deer was gone.

You turned to Cayde with a wrathful glare. He had the most unapologetic “Oh shit” -look on his face. Partly, because for a fleeting moment, he had thought you were going to stick an arrow into him.

“Why don’t you ever just SHUT UP,” you practically growled, bow shaking with irritation.

“Shh, don’t be so loud! You’ll scare the animals away,” Cayde hissed.

You snarled in anger and wished for his painful death. He was distracting you despite your direct wishes and orders cultured with swear words against that.

You took three quick steps and shook your index finger at Cayde’s face while letting it all out:

“I’m trying to pull my weight here – even help others, which is not like me at all, but you’re making it really difficult, so if you could just kindly SHUT THE FUCK UP OR STAY AT THE FARM WITH YOUR GUARDIAN BUDDIES. I DON’T HAVE TIME TO BABYSIT YOU.”

Cayde’s mouth was hanging open and he tried to motion for you to calm down, but you were not done.

“I don’t _care_ about the Guardians. I don’t _care_ that you’re the Vanguard – I barely even know what that means”–Cayde tried to interrupt you, no doubt about to explain the term, but you kept spitting the words at his stupid, metal face–“What I _do_ care about is getting the job done cause those people need to eat. Unlike _you_ , I’m not here to play around.”

You paused to take in a breath, nostrils fluttering in anger.

“Wow. That’s more words than you have said to me in total before that.”

“Fuck you. Go home.”

You turned to leave, but Cayde rushed to block your path. His hands were raised in a soothing motion, but for each second he stood in front of you, your blood pressure kept rising.

“Okay look, I get that you’re angry. I’ve been cooped up in the Tower for Traveler knows how long and to get to walk in the forests like this… It’s just…” Cayde sighed heavily and hang his head. His hands dropped to his sides. “I’ve really missed it.”

For a moment, you were at a loss on words. Hunter was a hunter, no matter whether he was a Guardian or not. Anger slipped from your grasp with each short, annoyed breath.

“I was just so happy to get out, y’know? The thrill, the danger! Gaah! I’ve _really_ missed field work.” Cayde chuckled and shook his head in regret.

You stared at his animated face until you found the right combination of words and tone to describe your feelings.

“Then why, _pray tell_ , you’re trying to muck it up for me?”

Cayde scratched the back of his neck, looking around the undergrowth for an answer. “Uh… I got sidetracked? I wanted to impress my new friend aka you? The baseline– no, wait, don’t leave!” He circled around to stop you again and started speaking faster: “The baseline is; I get excited. And I didn’t take this as seriously as I should have. Sorry. There. I said it. Please don’t make me apologize again.”

You shot an unconvinced look at the Exo and puffed the air out of your lungs.

“Whatever,” you mumbled.

“Sooo, does that mean I get to come with you?” Cayde asked carefully, eyes lit with excitement.

“…Whatever,” you repeated and shook your head. You were probably giving up too easily but based on previous experiences Cayde wasn’t an easy person to disagree with regarding his comings and goings.

He pumped his fist in the air behind your back but didn’t make a sound.

You returned to tracking the deer. That particular individual was already far away, but the herd was in the area, so there was bound to be other tracks. Miraculously, Cayde was silently following right at your heels. There was a whole different aura about him: He was focused, attentive and serious about the hunt. You eyed the gun on his side, hoping he wouldn’t reflexively use it to spoil the food.

You stopped at the edge of a clearing. Judging by the tracks, the area was like a shopping center for the inhabitants of the woods. The lack of humans outside the City walls was good for the animal population. The Fallen had zero interest in the local fauna and there was nothing valuable to them anyways so deep in the forest.

You found yourself hoping the Cabal wouldn’t destroy the whole planet. There was indescribable beauty in the untamed wilds and it was a privilege to be able to appreciate that.

“Got anything?” Cayde asked suspiciously quietly. As if he didn’t want anyone else to hear.

When you turned to reply, he was crouched right next to you, closer than you anticipated. You ignored the jump your heart made, but the words got momentarily lost on your tongue.

“Some of these tracks are probably from this morning,” you said after returning to looking around.

Cayde’s brow plates quirked up. “Uh-huh. How can you tell?”

You side-eyed him and held back a sigh that wasn’t as annoyed as the previous ones of the same day. “It rained last night.”

“Riiiight.”

The dents in the soft moss were steep and the tingling feeling of getting closer to your prey grew with each step.

The forest was spotty beyond the clearing, even sparse in patches. Prey animals wouldn’t stay in such areas where they could be easily spotted, so you turned to follow your instincts towards area with thick undergrowth, similar to the place where you had seen the first deer.

Cayde followed you in complete silence and you had to glance over your shoulder to make sure he was still there. He could be unbelievably silent when he wanted to.

When the first faint rustling broke the normal background noises, your body moved on its own. Every other sound disappeared. Your eyes fixated forward.

You aimed without thinking and let go.


	3. You Hunt Some

Confidence usually grew with experience and experience was more valuable than Glimmer outside the walls of the Last City. The inhabitants of the wilds only traded in lives.

The bow string tensed in a swift, fluid motion with no time for thoughts to surface. Sharp gaze found its target quickly and stayed on it. There was almost nothing that could stop the predator about to pounce on its prey. And success always felt good.

Success, when your life literally depended on it, felt even better. The sweet rush of adrenaline, all instincts strained to their maximum capability. The focus. Your quickened but steady heartbeats were the foundation of the effort. Your body was the actor.

For the time of an exhale, the forest around you was still and silent. Only the sharpest ears could’ve been able to hear the air splitting. The mild pumping of adrenaline pounded in your ears with each beat as you waited.

Cayde’s admiring inhale of surprise was the first sign that your arrow had hit its mark. Not surprising, but satisfying nonetheless. The deer was taking its last breath as Cayde hurried to release it from its suffering.

“Nice shot!” he complimented and you saw how he eyed the bow in your hands with a glint in his optics. The background noise returned with a snap.

“Thanks,” you said quietly and looked over at the animal. It was a female of average size, probably a bit on the older side. Its movements had been slower than of the one from before. An easy kill, but it was probably for the best. Some other predator would’ve soon snuffed its life out.

As usual, you clicked on the communication device in your ear and waited for someone to answer. After the Guardian had made rounds around the EDZ, the connections had gotten a lot better. Begrudgingly you had to admit things would’ve been a lot worse without her. It was hard not to be thankful, especially since everyone around you, Suraya included, seemed to worship her.

“ _Come in,_ ” a familiar voice from the survey unit replied. He wasn’t a Guardian, but he had worked at the Tower before the invasion attack. That didn’t make you like him more.

“Ready for transmatting,” you said as you eyed the deer. It was a good catch. You had been lucky.

“ _Copy that. Just a moment…_ ”

You waited for a few seconds, trying to ignore the look on Cayde’s face. His gaze was glued to the bow in your hand and his head was tilted in a thoughtful gesture.

“ _Ready to receive whenever._ ” A hint of an amused chuckle got through the coms. “ _You were quick today._ ”

You didn’t reply but drew in a sigh.

Cayde’s Ghost circled around the animal and projected a transmat beam over it.

“Transmatting now,” Sundance said.

The comm device buzzed and clicked once in your ear before the clearance order got through. It was another thing that was hard to admit but having a Ghost along in the wilds did have its benefits. Unfortunately, it was always a package deal with a Guardian.

You let your posture relax and turned to Cayde.

He jumped to his feet from the ground and cheered. “We’re a good team! High-five! No? Okay. No high-five.”

You left him hanging and continued walking. A small pool of blood was all that was left of the deer and you felt relieved in a sense. It wouldn’t matter if you didn’t find anything else to hunt that day. Your daily quota had been hit for several upcoming days.

“Alright, that’s it then?” Cayde asked in a hopeful tone and swept dirt off his backside.

You bit your lip and let your eyes wander around the forest. The sun was still high, and the sky was clear. It would be a shame to waste such a clear day but staying in the wilds with Cayde wasn’t tempting either. Going back early for a proper rest wouldn’t be so bad once in a while. The Farm had nothing to worry about food-wise so there was no sense in trying to find more prey than what was currently needed.

“I guess,” you said when you couldn’t think of anything better to imply the hunt was concluded for the time being.

“Sooo, we go back now?” Cayde inquired.

You shrugged while walking. “You can stay here if you want.”

He hurried after you. “I know I said it already, but I’ll say it again: Great team. Us.”

“I don’t really do team,” you replied dubiously. It almost felt bad to shoot Cayde’s enthusiasm down like that, but you weren’t up for a bonding session with a Guardian.

“Okay, let’s just stay in the basics, then. I’ve got your back and you’ve got mine. That sort of thing.” He wasn’t ready to give up and as annoying as it was, it was slightly moving.

“I won’t hesitate to leave you to the wolves.”

“Ouch!”

Almost a full minute of walking in silence ensued with Cayde grinning behind your back.

“Can I say something else?” he asked, definitely not about to wait for your permission, “It’s been kinda rough for these past few days, but you’re making it hella lot easier for a lot of people.”

You cast a sideways glance at his sincere tone.

“Right. Where’s this coming from?” you asked.

Cayde shook his head, amused. “Can’t take a compliment, can you?”

“Not really.”

“Anyways, this was great. I’m looking forward to the next trip already. Now how far is the Farm? I’m craving a sandwich…” Cayde babbled, his voice trailing off in your ears as you focused on finding the right path.

Having someone cheer for you had left an unknown sense of warmth. You didn’t know how to deal with something like that. You quickly settled into the familiarity of ignoring most of what Cayde was saying, but his presence no longer felt like having a pebble in your shoe. It was almost comforting to hear someone talking as you trekked through the woods. And he didn’t expect you to reply anything besides the occasional mumble.

It was weird. As if he was constantly trying to cheer you up.

After walking for over an uneventful hour, Cayde began to pester you about taking a break.

“Oh man, my legs are killing me!”

He slumped onto the trunk of a fallen tree. You gingerly followed him, leaving a wide gap between you two.

“I don’t know how you do this every day,” he continued, blue optics fixated into you.

The forest around you was still and silent. Apart from the occasional chirping and faint rustling, the gentle wind blowing between the trees was the only sound. The midday wasn’t popular time for animals to be moving around.

You stretched your legs, reaching your fingertips towards your toes. “You’re just out of shape, Mister Vanguard.”

“Oi! That’s unnecessary and rude. Aaand probably true,” Cayde admitted with a chuckle that you joined into without realizing it.

It was good to stop to just breathe the fresh air once in a while. It was rejuvenating. You reached your arms up towards the sky and breathed in deeply.

Cayde cleared his throat.

“There’s something I wanted to ask.”

You turned to look at the Exo, brows lightly scrunched in suspicion. “Then ask.”

“What if…” Cayde began in a sly tone and it already drew a slight sigh out of you.

“Yeees?”

“Let’s say I wanted to, uhh, pull my weight here. What should I do?” He stared at you, completely, uncharacteristically serious.

“Stay out of my way,” you wanted to say but bit your tongue. If the Guardian really wanted to make himself useful, you shouldn’t shoot him down. Or Suraya would shoot you down as soon as she would hear about it.

Cayde looked at you intently, waiting for a reply.

“You need a bow,” you finally said.

“YES!”

“Talk to Hawthorne about it. Tell her I said so.”

“I will. Thanks.” He pointed finger guns at you and you rolled your eyes, hard. “Y’know how I said I’ve missed going out? They can never make me go back in.”

“Who’s ‘they’?” you asked, though the answer obviously included the Vanguard Commander.

Cayde shrugged. “Zavala and Ikora, I guess? Okay it hasn’t been _that_ bad, but still…” Cayde looked up to the sun peeking behind the treetops.

Your gaze lingered on the happy expression on his face. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.

“Hey, are you hungry? I think I still have a snack bar in here somewhere…” Cayde shoved his hands into his pockets and pulled out something wrapped in bright green. “Wanna share?”

You cast a dubious look at him. “Is that what you eat in the City these days? ‘Cause I’d rather starve.”

“What? Oh no, we do have _real_ food. Like… ramen!” Cayde suddenly looked dreamily at the sky, the snack bar still hanging in his hand. “Man, I miss ramen.”

“So I’ve heard. Like a nine thousand times during these past few days,” you quipped.

Cayde turned to look at you and snapped the bar in half. He offered the food to you. “Well, if things turn out as well as they should, I’ll treat you a bowl when this is over.”

You were taken aback by his sudden offer and the wistful tone. Maybe he really did consider you a some sort of friend? You accepted the bar. It tasted like paper, so no surprise there.

“You think it’ll go down in your favor? Things are looking pretty bad for you guys…” you asked quietly as you munched the snack bar.

“Of course! You’ve got nothing to worry about,” Cayde said instantly, “Zavala is on it. Ikora too… And we have the Guardian. We could really have a shot at turning this around. Don’t you think?”

You cast your eyes to the forest floor and pursed your mouth into a thin line. You shouldn’t have asked. The snack bar was crumbling in your grip.

Cayde squinted at you. “What?”

Your eyes snapped up to look at him, realizing your reaction had been utterly suspicious. “Huh?”

“What’s with the long face?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

“You don’t like Guardians but–”

“That’s not it!” you yelped. “I _do_ want you to get the City back.”

“More room for you in the forest, eh?” Cayde tossed the leftovers of the bar into his mouth. He didn’t sound too convinced. “I don’t know who rubbed you in the wrong way, but not all Guardians are that bad. Look at me, for example! I’m great!” He pointed at himself with a thumb.

“’ _Not all Guardians…’_ ” you muttered under your breath. Cayde was right, of course, but you really didn’t want to continue talking about it.

“I’m curious, y’know,” he said in a vain attempt at making you talk, but it only made anxiety rise bile into your throat.

“I bet you are.” You hopped off the log and shook your legs a bit. “Let’s go.”

“What? Already? It’s been like three minutes since we sat down!” Cayde whined but jumped down too. He didn’t really have a choice. Or he did, but that one was to anger Zavala by getting separated from you and getting lost in the wilds of the EDZ. And Cayde was rather fond of the last life the Light had left him.

“Okay, wait up! I’m coming!”


End file.
